Revelation I
by Lt. Jenkins
Summary: A child and his thoughts and the clothes on his back are all he finds when he wakes up in a small frontier town with a particulalarly large dog staring at him. Had he gone mad or was something larger at play? R&R for the next chapter or just R&R and let me know what you think. Thank you and enjoy! Part I of a series.
1. Enter main characters

"GO, GO, GO, we have to get him to the operating room now!" A nurse in practice yelled as she ran with six other doctors and medical technicians. They were in a children's hospital in Michigan in the wilderness of the U.P. It was not the safest place they were the only one with more than one operating room. So, it was safe to say that they were usually backed a lot. The bleak hall seemed to go on for miles from here point of view. In other words, it was not visually appealing to the patients, as the more aged ones in the adult wing had made that very clear while they swore at the nursing staff while they were administered their shots or pills.

She looked down into the glossy eyes of the drowsy twelve-year-old boy that the stretcher that she and the other staff were hauling to the operation room contained. He was blissfully unaware of his pain due to the high amounts of Acetaminophen that was injected in him on the air ambulance ride over. This kid was actually pretty remarkable; he was all over the news. Apparently, he was part of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps or otherwise known as the U.N.S.C.C and he and his fellow cadets were on an old decommissioned destroyer that wasn't being used anymore and were about to take it to the nearby towns port under careful direction of their adult peers, of course. Well, about one nautical mile out of the entrance to port, the ship hit some breakers and was slammed into a rocky outcropping. The adults who were looking over the railing for anyone who washed overboard ironically fell in. This kid commanded kids to help but they were too shocked to help. Only his friend helped, Robert Mathis, and he died shortly after the Coast Guard rescued them. This kid, Johnny Riccardo, saved seven adults. The kid said he was only acting as any other human or sailor should have. That is why he wanted to be in the navy. He could not wait so he joined the youth corps. That was also the reason they were here, after the ordeal, John suffered a heart attack. Which is highly unlikely his health record. He was fine all the way here but his heart rate was stabilizing at a very low point.

They blasted through the doors at Mach speed and got the tools out. Someone called out for a fiber-optic probe but was awarded with scalpel and was told to get to work. He jumped over to the kid with no question that was dedication. As he was, about to cut into the chest the heart monitor spiked and his heart rate fell rapidly but the rate of the beeping was increasing more than the heart rate was falling.

She called out, "We're losing him, and his bps is falling!" She manually started CPR but to no avail, after what seemed like five minutes, the machine let out its high-pitched toll. The child went into arrest.

"Calling' it at 1:25 A.M." The surgeon said as he and every else left.

"Wait! Look at the monitor!" The nurse exclaimed.

Where was he? This wasn't the hospital he was in and this wasn't Michigan so…where was he and what is this place? _'It's freaking cold, that's what.'_ His mind answered. He looked around and eventually he found an exit to the almost black interior of what ever he was. He stepped through the threshold and found that he woke up in a cave…and that it was also -15 degrees, Midnight and up to his knees in snow. _'Geez it's cold here, but it's a darn sight more visible than inside that cave.' _ He saw a yellow hue against the infinite black backdrop that was the sky. _'That has to be a town. And where there is a town, there's heated buildings.'_ He thought to himself as he started towards the town. It was a good 2 kilometers away so he had about 15 minutes to get over there…so he had to book it. He had to admit, it was colder than Michigan nut somehow, it was…different in a different. He continued onward and soon an abandoned boiler room on the horizon. _'That's the place, I'll make camp there.'_ He was getting extremely fatigued from trudging through all the snow, his legs felt like paper.

He started talking to himself, "Must…keep…going…" And after going fifteen more meters, he collapsed in a snowdrift, not 25 feet from the room. The world was slowly turning sepia-white, obviously not a good sign of health. After the world was engulfed in sepia and his vision was blacking out he heard a door get pushed open and someone walk out. He did not hear much after because well, he passed out.

Balto was alone in the abandoned boiler room. All the dogs met up in the old sawmill but his being an outcast gave him an exclusive exclusion from all friendly social contact. In fact, if it were not for Boris he would have probably killed himself, which is the most stupidest thing he could ever do. He hated Boris being gone on vacation with Stella, he was like a father to Balto and now that he has gone…he…he just felt alone. In fact, the only person who does not try to kill him is well the geese themselves. But then of course…there is Jenna. She was the most beautiful, the smartest, and the most kind husky Balto had ever met. And she was totally out of his league. He scolded himself mentally, _'STOP THINKING ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!_ _No one would like a mangy old half breed like me. Especially her…right?'_ Balto had to go to the bathroom so he went out side to do his thing. He went out the door and he could have sworn he heard something.

"Hello? …..Steele if you're just trying to hurt me just do it already." He stopped and noticed something in a snowdrift, _'What the bloody heck is that?'_ he wondered as he absent mindedly walked over to the pit.

"Hello is anyone there?" he repeated. He looked over and peered into the snowdrift and found something he would have never expected, a twelve-year-old child was collapsed in the drift and was clothed in hospital robes. _'He'll freeze if I leave him out.' _He thought and he walked over to the child and started to drag him into the heated boiler room.


	2. Learning the Truth

_'Where did he come from and why would he be outside in thin hospital robes like those? He doesn't look like any kid I've seen rosy with.'_ Balto kept thinking like this the entire night whilst stealing glances back and forth from the door and the child. He thought and thought and thought but no answer befell him so, reluctantly; he closed his eyes and tried to get his first sleep of the night because tomorrow he surmised he would have a very active day.

He woke up in a brightly lit, white area that seemed infinite. He got up and looked around, only a tall faded structure stood eerily in the distance. He was hesitant to venture to it but it beat sitting here for an hour. He did not like it though it just felt weird to him. _'This must be a dream; this doesn't seem to be real, not something I would normally find in Nome at least.' _He paused as he gave himself some food for thought, _'Am I where those like me are never supposed to venture?' _He thought. After several short minutes, he arrived at the entrance, which looked very alien to him. The roofs were tiled in mossy rock and had statues of men with swords and funny pancake hats standing next to wolves snarling next to them. _'This is weird.'_ He kept repeating to himself as he absent-mindedly walked in the building.

The halls were dark and filled with cobwebs and rats and everything felt old, no scratch that, _ancient_. He walked through the maze of ancient masonry until he arrived at a three-way intersection. Balto, not knowing which path he should take, shuffled to the left, slowing his pace to a slow gait. As soon as he turned the corner, everything changed. The hall was clean and brightly lit and a silky smooth voice called to him, it sounded strangely familiar to him. That also worried him to quite an extent. He kept walking through the halls until they opened up into a gargantuan atrium and the voice boomed overhead, **_"Come forward, so that I may see what has entered the atrium of the Lupos."_**

Balto, without hesitation, obeyed and stepped fully into the light. The voice was about to say something but waited as if considering something, **_"What is your name, interloper?"_**

****Balto surprisingly found the courage to speak up, "My name is Balto Whitefang, I-I'm sorry if I-"

The voice cut him off, "You did not, and your apology is accepted." The voice stopped for a second and was now behind Balto, "Do you know where you are?"

Balto jumped and spun on his heels, "GAH! No, who are you?" He said startled.

"That matters not, what matters is where you will be going now and what you will have to do." The voice was now in view. It belonged to a large, white female wolf.

"And what and where would that be?" He said.

"You will have to take the rains of another ones life and nurture it as one has nurtured yours." She said.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me." He said in complete total disbelief.

"If you do not hear the truth, then I must show it to you." She said and with that, the generic equivalent of snowflakes started to swirl around them. At first, Balto felt nauseous, and then he started felling lightheaded. He started to panic.

"Just what are you trying to pull here, lady?" He said in an elevated but collective voice.

"Stand still." She commanded.

'Okay…okay….okay…AHHHHHHHH!" And with that, he was dropped 10 feet straight to hard wood planking. He felt like someone took out his guts and sewed them back in upside down.

"Ya'know that stuff _hurts_. Where are we, anyways?" He said a bit disgruntled.

"This is where the said life was at, The United States Naval base. In 1987." She said. "The child has been chosen for a higher purpose, a purpose that could quite possibly make the difference in one of the largest disputes."

"I will try my best…why me though, I'm sure there are much better candidates than me." He said, putting himself down.

"You will because you saved him. You have a pure heart. Go, the sun is rising and he will awake." And with that, he felt the same sensation of pain as before. Then, he felt like his guts were ripped out and sewn back in wrong and then he woke up in the boiler room to find the child still sleepily snuggled up by the warmth of the boiler. _'I hope he likes meat for breakfast.'_ He thought as he went off into town to go find some food.

The whole night he slept like a newborn puppy. He saw life in a whole new light now. He did not give a damn at the moment what people thought about him, his personal motive was as clear as day, he would let nothing go wrong. He had to find everything out though, what his past life was, his ambitions, he was about to be very busy. He was flustered at the very least. He had no idea what this kid was like he was as excited as he was scared. In other words, he was a ticking time bomb ready to blow to smithereens.

He passed by the abandoned sawmill and Steele had everyone's attention and he noticed Balto walking along at a fast pace.

"LOBO! What the fuck did I say? I said very clearly, and I quote, "STAY THE FUCK OUT OF OUR LIVES, NO ONE LIKES YOU AND THEY NEVER WILL!"

Balto just walked up to him with a stone expression, "I don't want to fight, not today Steele. Not ever, go away."

Taken aghast by Balto's bold statement, Steele was speechless as this was the first time Balto had ever insulted _him_.

Balto walked on and eventually found a partially cooked steak by the butcher's trash and he thought to himself, _'Why would he throw this out. It's fine!'_ He picked it up in his muzzle and ran the quickest way back to the abandoned boiler room, straight through town and past the housing block. It was a risky gambit, but he had to if he wanted the meat not to spoil. He waited for the town constabulary patrol to pass and after they rounded a corner, he booked it down main. He was already ¾ of the way down in under 5 seconds. For as skinny as he was, he was faster than most sled dogs in town but it did not matter as no one could see through his wolf-like features.

He paid it no mind as he found that he had ran into the last person he wanted to.

"I'm sorry, it was my mistake I didn't see you. I-"

Balto did not dare meet her eyes; he was so ashamed, "No, the fault was mine. I'm sorry I-I-"

It was Jenna, the most beautiful, and caring husky Balto ever had the short time of meeting. He had had a small run in with her before but he was too nervous to say anything and besides, she could not possibly love him. He had a kid to take care of now and she would think he was weird enough being a wolf? Try a wolf taking care of a human child, ha!

She looked at him and smiled in a way that just made him feel that he could just stare at her forever. Well, he had to have been staring because he noticed tat he _was_ staring at her. He backed up a step and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassingly, "I uh, yeah." He said.

She giggled out loud and it sounded like an angels harp to his ears. He could have stayed in this moment forever but he remembered the child.

"Oh, shoot! Gotta go, Bye!" and he raced off towards the boiler room.

"Balto…what am I thinking." She said to herself.

Meanwhile, in a nearby, not so friendly alley, a dark malamute saw all this and fury burned in his eyes, _'That son of a bitch thinks he can waltz in here and do as he pleases? He is so wrong, I'll kill him.'_

**_ [A/N: So, the plot's mold is beginning to form. Time to harden it and start the story. One review for one chapter. Thanks for coming and as always, enjoy your stay. =)]_**


	3. The Days of Old

**|FLASHBACK: John's School Life| "Sweet home Alabama"-by Lynyrd Skynyrd begins**

"Pioneer Junior High. _Intelligence, perseverance, respect_. Yeah right, no one probably knows that's there, much less follows it." He said to Robert Mathis, his closest friend he had since kindergarten.

"Yeah well, just keep your head on a swivel, you know that that 8th grader doesn't take kindly to uh, you know, our organization." He said glancing over his shoulder. The atrium was filled with immature children running every which way.

"I just don't get it, those ROTC jocks should be glad we go here. We represent nicely with good conduct. They don't have to, good thing we're NAVY." John said jokingly. The whole building was shaking with the usual morning action. Usually though there were teachers every ten feet, wherever you went. But today, it seemed that they were at a staff meeting, leaving the poor janitor at the mercy of the school pranksters.

"Just another day in the highly established institute of quantum mechanical science." He said jokingly to himself as he hurried to his first period.

The history teacher walked in and the room fell quiet, "Good morning class, we have a lot o cover so let's get to it. Open your Social Studies textbooks to page 69." He said, preparing to give a lecture, "Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of North Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, Siberia was part of the Soviet Union (USSR) from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire since the 16th century. Encompassing much of the Eurasian Steppe, the territory of Siberia extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan, then to the national borders of Mongolia and China. Siberia makes up about 77% of Russia's territory, but is home to only 28% (40 million people) of Russia's population." He paused, "Although this region sees much more activity than we think. Now, there are some who say that the land was that of the Lupos or, in other words, Land of the wolves. They say this probably due to the large population of wolves in the district. Now, the gray wolf or grey wolf is a species of canid native to the wilderness and remote areas of North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. It is the largest member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg (95–99 lb.), and females 36–38.5 kg (79–85 lbs.). It is similar in general appearance and proportions to a German shepherd, or sled dog, but has a larger head, narrower chest, longer legs, and straighter tail and bigger paws. Its winter fur is long and bushy, and is usually mottled gray in color, though it can range from nearly pure white, red, or brown to black. Within the genus Canis, the gray wolf represents a more specialized and progressive form than its smaller cousins (the coyote and golden jackal), as demonstrated by its morphological adaptations to hunting large prey, its more gregarious nature and its highly advanced expressive behavior. It is a social animal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair, accompanied by the pair's adult offspring. The gray wolf is typically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humans and tigers posing a serious threat to it. It feeds primarily on large ungulates, though it will also eat smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. The gray wolf is one of the world's most well researched animals, with probably more books written about it than any other wildlife species. It has a long history of association with humans, having been despised and hunted in most agricultural communities due to its attacks on livestock, while conversely being respected by some Native American tribes. It is the sole ancestor of the dog, which was first domesticated in the Middle East. Although the fear of wolves is prevalent in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. Non-rabid wolves have attacked and killed people, mainly children, but this is unusual, as wolves are relatively few, live away from people, and have been taught to fear humans by hunters and shepherds. Hunting and trapping has reduced the species' range to about one third, though its still relatively widespread range and stable population means that the species is not threatened at a global level, and is therefore classified by the IUCN as Least Concern." He finished, quite out of breath by the looks of him.

"You have all hour and the rest of the week to write up a story that includes all of the facts about Siberia or Wolves or both." He said sitting down at his desk, attending to a stack of un-graded papers.

John turned his head to look behind him. He found Robert sitting up in the higher third row of seating. He looked at the clock and to his dismay, a dreaded twenty minutes was left in class. Five minutes felt long enough, and now it was multiplied four times over, great. He really wanted to go home but he had to go through another 7 hours of boredom. He hated the action of having to wait with a passion, which was odd for a person with his kind of personality. The reason he wanted to get some so badly was to play his new twelve-string guitar that, as he was told be his instructor, he played wonderfully and naturally by ear. He did not let anyone know besides Robert because well, no one either needed to now or cared enough to acknowledge the fact that he was human. You see, most kids branded him an outsider because he was in the U.S.N.C.C and he was not 'normal' enough to fit in. But he did not care, he was him for a reason, he just needed to find that reason and he secretly had been for what seemed like an eternity. Well, in his ramblings it seemed that he had been in thought so long that he had wasted the hour, again, like he did in the last twenty minutes of this hour every day.

"Sonofagun." He said under his breath. Just as he said that the teacher noticed his blank paper and called, "Mr. Riccardo, to my desk please." He said looking back to his papers until John came over.

"Yeah, Mr. Flannigan, sir?" He said, impatience just barely sprinkling his voice.

"Next time, don't waste time in my class, it's a privilege to come and learn here." He said annoyed at the child's impatience. "Alright, get out of here." He said dismissively.

John ran down the hall to catch up to Robert, brushing lightly past some jocks in his grade, "Hey watch it, lard-face!"

John looked back and sheepishly grinned, "Sorry?"

_'Just another day at the office.'_ He thought as he ran down the hall.

**|END JOHN'S FLASHBACK|**


	4. Introductions, Introductions

** |Nome, Alaska 1924, 12:00 P.M NOON|**

John woke up in a room bathed in the color that a telltale fire would give off. John sat up and saw that he was in some sort of an abandoned Mill or Boiler room.

"Man, what did I _do_ last night?" He said to himself. He looked around the room and confirmed that he was alone. _'Never mind that, where are you?'_ his mind shot back to his heart. John honestly had no idea whatsoever on his whereabouts.

John was obviously in a dream, he was walking down a beautifully cultivated garden pathway. This opportunity he took to put down some thoughts on his theoretical table, "Man, Roberts gonna kill me." He started thinking but then he remembered what had exactly happened to his long-time friend. _'God Dammit he was too young, he was gonna try for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he got older, he had his whole life in front of him and I took it away; just to save some old adults. I'm a monster.'_ He thought putting himself down in the dumps. The whole thing just seemed so unreal to him, how could something like this happen to him. He was no hero; he was just a smart person in a fool's world. And now, what? This…this room he woke up in…..where the in the fuck was he? This whole room seemed out of place but what struck him most odd was how he felt, he looked alright but how he felt, was a whole other story. But in all seriously, he felt terrible, in fact he felt like he would puke. Man, even the _air_ felt different than Michigan, I mean, he was not the homesick type, he just wanted to know what the bloody hell happened. He also felt…different, in the sense of his emotions. At first, he was really sad about Robert's death, now he felt he would find anyone whoever bullied anyone, and he would rip their throats into bloody ribbons. _'No, what am I thinking?'_ He scolded himself, wanting to retain as much sanity as he could. This should feel normal, right? He decided to get up and go out side but found that he was extremely weak. Probably from last night, this still was not so clear to begin with. All he remembered was seeing the town and then, nothing. It sounded cliché he was aware, but that was the only possible way to describe those strange turn of events. He was a man of action, he needed to _move_. The whole, "I'm too weak to move!" Thing was really getting on his nerves but he calmed himself and sat down, trying to make sense of what happened last night. As he continued to walk down the pathway, his mind generated from one of his old thoughts.

Balto reached the boiler room entrance not five minutes later, completely unaware of the pair of devilish eyes that were still observing his actions. He pawed the door open and went inside with the meat, closing the door behind him. _'Damn, now I'm going to have to improvise.'_ The owner of the angry eyes thought, scanning the building until he found a window that was not boarded up all the way and started up the pile of rotted lumber that was lying against the building to reach it. _'Let's see what this lobo, has in here that is so important to him.'_ He peered inside the window and what his eyes saw betrayed that of what his mind hoped he would see. Balto took a cover in his mouth and moved it over the child so it covered him more effectively. _'The sonofabitch has a kid, huh? Well…this is new. Could I possibly use this as an advantage to harass him more or get at him more deeply, and leave a bigger, nastier mark on him.'_ He wondered with an evil sparkle start to form in his eyes. He jumped down from the logs and started walking back to the mill, devising on how he should break it to Steele, man wait till he got a load of this!

Balto looked at the child sleeping, _'Oh man, am I sure I know how to do this?' _He thought. _'Yes, you can.' _His mind said back, reassuringly, perfectly masking Boris's accent. _'Man, he would know more about his than me. Oh god, I hope he had the 'talk' already!' _ He thought of how awkward that would be. _'Wait, how can I, if I need too, how would he understand me, he is a human!' _ He let his mind wander while he kept a wary eye on the child. God, this whole thing reeked of the unknown. He did not know what to do. Then he remembered the strange, yet familiar white wolf. She said she would have something prepared for them when they needed it most. _'Why can't anything ever be simple?' _He thought. Man, humans sure do take a lot of time to sleep! He decided that a little shuteye would not do him any harm either. "Just an hour." He said, "Just…an hour…." And with that, he fell into a deep sleep.

Not ten minutes later John woke up and saw a big, grey…wolf sitting next to his, wait, A WOLF?

He jumped up, "Sonofagun!" and hit his head on the nearby support pillar. The dog jumped up and open his eyelids to reveal his big, yellow eyes. John instinctively backed up and saw that the wolf-dog-thing had spotted him and was moving on him. "Okay, whoa there doggy, stop where you are." He said in fright and to his amazement, the dog stopped.

Balto was just as surprised as the human was. He tried to greet him, but he did not understand. _'Fantastic.'_ He thought. The child did not understand but realized that the wolf dog meant absolutely no harm. He inched closer and started petting him. Balto froze while he did this as this was the first time someone in Nome who was human was not sticking a shotgun in his muzzle. He just sat there and let the human pet him. When he finished petting him, he looked at him inquisitively, "You got a name boy?" He asked. Balto barked and pointed to the dirt. The human picked up a stick and gave it to the dog, confused. Balto dragged it across the dirt until it spelled boldly, BALTO. The boy looked up amazed but not to the point of stopping to recognize the feat. "Hey Balto? I think you and I should stick together."

Aniu looked down unto the unlikely duo and decided that this was not enough help; the child would need that extra…oomph, if you will. She teleported to the white clouds of heaven and looked for her archangel companion, Annabelle. She roamed the streets of gold of which the United States Marine Corps hymns described they would walk after death, who knew that they were right. She saw the happy faces as she traveled to dog heaven. After a short time, she arrived at the pearly gates, and was let in. She almost immediately found Annabelle, "Annabelle, I've urgent news, it's happening. The conditions are just as they were in the prophecy, but I don't think he's ready, you wouldn't happen to, oh I don't know, have a perfect angel for this kind of umm…."

Annabelle chuckled lightly, "Do I ever, I'll go find him. I think you'll find he fits the job extremely well."


	5. Demolition in the Name of Sorrow

** |HEAVEN CANNOT REALLY GET MORE SPECIFIC ON THAT…|**

"Charles? Charles!" Annabelle called looking for her recently proven angel. She found him by the cloud meadows, sleeping.

"Charles, I've been looking for you, you have a new assignment." She said in her up-beat business like tone.

"W-what?" Charlie mumbled as he was torn from a heavenly sleep.

"Annabelle, what are you doing on this side of heaven?" He said as he got up, in presence of the archangel.

Annabelle motioned him to follow her back over to where Aniu was patiently awaiting for their return. She passed by dogs enjoying bones and dogs sleeping fitfully. _'All is well' _she thought, _'for now…'_ They arrived back to where Aniu was in a short manner of minutes. Charlie looked at the giant white wolf and instinctively took three involuntary steps back.

"You need not to be afraid child, for I am that of your cousin, an archangel, but my job is a bit more…hands on." She said to Charlie who, was now returning back into the regular vicinity he was before. He did not know what was happening but all he knew was well, no one ever told him anything.

"What exactly do you need me for then, uh…" He did not know her name. _'Great start.' _He thought.

"I am Aniu, I see all and for any civilization that has ever grown, our knowledge has saturated deep into the soil." She replied to his query.

_'Oh great, one of the dramatic types.' _He thought. She sat him and Annabelle down, "I have found the prophecy child. He is on the right path but he may need more help than I had predicted. Is he the one I asked for?" She said to Annabelle.

"Yes Aniu, he was on a mission in San Francisco and he got a 20 year leave from that but then… well, anyways. He knows his way around these sort of situations, should it come to the unthinkable." She replied in the most serious voice Charlie ever heard her muster, which to him was a miracle.

"If you don't mind ma'am, what exactly do you want again?" Charlie asked.

"To prepare" Aniu said, "For you may be deployed to the earth but it will be in Alaska, about eighty eight years in the past."

"Oh." Charlie said realizing she had just as much power as Annabelle. He was soon dismissed so the two archangels could talk more in-depth on their flying nun procedures. He walked down the golden road thinking about his incident earlier. He did save David but after 20 dog years, he died trying to protect him and still, the person he was trying to keep from David still got his wish and abducted him and took Sasha just for kinks. His fate and Sasha's fate were still unknown, making Charlie's holy heaven a lowly hell. He woke up every Goddamn night thinking about it. He could still remember the screams. All the kicking and biting, and the needle. The same needle that held the same liquid that knocked out killed Sasha and knocked David. Yes, the needle did kill Sasha, but she did not end up in heaven with him. He liked to think that she was alright and she was working on how to save David. She always was a brave lass. He always thought of her and she always was in his dreams. She had been for the last 2 years, replaying the same thing over and over again. Like an episodic torture of good memories that he knew he would never have again. He remembered the first time they sang together on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran, it was the most magical moment of his life. He could have played it over and over again. But now, that was gone and he was alone. He requested that Annabelle let him find them but her "Heavenly Committee" shot that down quicker than a hunter shooting his first buck in hunting season did. His performance in the field quickly deteriorated after this and he was rejected his field duty privileges. He was truly alone now and also not to mention, bored out of his mind again. But that time was usually taken by his chronic depression anyway. The real reason they took his field status was because of his own attempt on his life a couple months after his search request were resended. **(A/N: Gee, only I can make heaven sound depressing, huh.)**

Balto and John were in the woods, scavenging for useful material that would help them, as John had no money. Balto found a squirrel and hunted it and brought it back to John, "Good job, boy!" He said happily. Balto had just caught dinner for them. "Hey Balto, while you were hunting I made you something." He took out a piece of rope with a dangly bit on the end. Balto was nonetheless elated but John was not. "No, wait." He reached into his shirt and pulled one of the two dog tags from his neck and fastened them to the dangly bit off rope, "There, that looks much more dignified." Balto let him secure the collar and felt extremely proud to have an "owner". Well, technically, _he_ was taking care of _him_ but then the humans might get suspicious. Hell, the humans _always_ got suspicious of everything. They decided t head back as it was already getting dark. "Man, it feels like you're trying to tell me something. Nah, that's outrageous, you would find a way, right?" Balto wanted to show that he still understood perfectly and nodded his head. "Humph." John replied as they unknowingly walked onto Main Street. John noticed all the people were shocked and staring at Balto. John looked down and he looked normal, he was just a dog. He looked at a cluster of scowling figures, who were actually esteemed race dog owners, "What, you guys ain't you never seen a dog before?" To which they replied, "No, we only see a murderous mutt." Jenna noticed the commotion as she heard how loudly the owners snickered and laughed. She hopped up to the fence to get a better look at the situation. There was a kid and Balto? He was with the kid and he was wearing a _collar_! She saw as the owners who looked to be in their teens, one of them Steele's owner, insulted the child and threw bottles at him, they must have had been drunk. Balto could not stand to see this, this _evil_ just be done right in front of him, he had to act. He got in front of the child protectively and growled and after a short time, they remained and he was stuck to using the big guns and started barking. As Jenna watched this she felt chills run down her spine,_ 'He sure is cute when he barks like that… wait what am I thinking?"_ she thought to herself,_ 'He wouldn't possibly like me back, anyways.'_ He barked and barked until one of the town constabulary officers came out and told the drunk men to go to their homes. After checking if the child was okay, turned around and started back, but then he glanced back at the dog before leaving, thinking that he might have been wrong about the half-breed, that maybe every one might have been wrong.

Jenna watched them walk into the abandoned boiler room, her curiosity peaking by this time. _'He has a kid now?'_ She decided that she should further investigate tomorrow afternoon, when she could roam around for a short time. She went over to the doggy-door in her owner's door and thought that she should sleep on it. _'I should sleep on Balto- I mean, sleep on what Balto's up too! I got to stop thinking like that!'_ She went over to the fireplace and over to the hearth, where her bed was. She laid her head down and soon came to terms with the odd feeling in her head, _'I think…..I think I love Balto….'_

**(A/N: If I ever put down the title of a song before a paragraph, it probably means you should listen to it because it conveys what I am trying to say better. =D.)**


	6. Even in Death, Sorrow Lingers On

**|CHARLIE'S FLASHBACK 1985| (A/N: Time to delve a bit into my re-envisioned Charlie's future, leave an R&R!)**

_ "Life takes us far apart, to many places and many ways of being. Love brings us together again, realizing we never actually left. Distance is an illusion made true by those who believe it. The heart knows no distance, time, space, lack...it's language is love. And love is limitless."_

David was walking down the street with Charlie and Sasha from his first day of High School. The San Franciscan sun was shining brightly and even the cab drivers were not driving at a maniac pace, a true sign of good luck in San Fran. He was just rounding the corner when a white van sped by, in quite a hurry. Inside a lot more was going on, "Do you think that dog smelled it, sir?"

A tall, sinister man looked at him with red, bloodshot eyes, "Possibly, eliminate him just to be sure."

"Well, wouldn't that complicate that order of the sanctitatis or whatever?" The man was concerned.

"I don't know, but I can't afford to take anymore risks, not after Red's failure. Driver, get me a navigation solution on those dogs and their owner!" And the van performed a J-turn and slowed its speed to mask itself with the other traffic, hidden in plain sight. He had no idea on how he would dispose of them, he just knew that is what Lucifer told him to do. He grinned in a sinister fashion, he love getting blood on his hands and hearing bloodshot screams or in some cases, hearing the moans of pain from his victims. He new that those who fought him were good, but doing the things he did had hidden…benefits. He soon spotted the child and his canine companions. He took his kukri knife from its shoulder sheath and readied his arm for the coming events. "Driver, pull over in the alley 2 car lengths ahead of them."

"Yessir." The driver said quickly.

They pulled in behind an apartment complex and got out. They stacked up on the wall, and waited till they passed by the mouth of the alley. When the dogs passed, they sprung out and gagged the child and pulled the child via the gag into the alley. Charlie glanced over his shoulder and saw the attackers man handling David and Sasha. His blood immediately came to a boil, and he jumped over a piece of sidewalk that was under construction and bit a man in the arm that was holding a military-grade stun device. He ran over and slashed the eyes of the man who was gagging David, "Run David, Go get your-"He was interrupted by two gunshots. He looked to his left and he saw Sasha's slender frame slump to the ground he looked at the man who shot her and barked such a loud bark, it echoed. The man was unfazed as the bark seemed to have no effect, because he shot Charlie, "AH, no!"

The last thing he saw before he "died" again was the man dragging David into the white van. This was the vision that tortured him for years after that, and the attempt on his own life. He hated every waking moment after that. It felt as if someone took two huge chunks of life out of him. It was terrible, and if anyone were in his position, they would do the same as he did. Did he feel his actions were justified? No, he was overpowered by sadness, which was a first for him, he was sure of at least that.

**|BALTO & JOHN,NOME ALASKA 1924)\**

Balto was watching the door, while John was carving a particularly large husk of wood into an acoustic guitar. He was about ready to string it. He looked at his hand and it was blistered from all the close detail work on the unfinished wood, there were splinters everywhere. He called Balto over, "Hey Balto, come here." Balto happily obeyed and paced over to john. John told him, looking up from his splintered hand, "Tomorrow we go to that cave we saw in the woods, it looks like it would hold some promise for us." Balto nodded to this and then noticed Johns hand, he picked the last splinter out but it drew blood. Balto put his head down and carefully licked it clean, dog's mouths being cleaner than humans and all. John obviously noticed this but it was not a first, his canine companion was really looking out for him, he was really starting to like this dog. Not that he did not before, but he really acknowledged it now. John called it a night and laid his head down on a makeshift, hay pillow. Balto came over and laid down next to him very tired as well, confirming that it was late and they should have been in bed some time ago. John closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

**|CHARLIE, SOME TIME AGO, AFTER "HEAVENLY CASE FILE INCIDENT-7 BETA"|**

Charlie had been doing so many missions and with itchy being assigned a new partner, he was truly alone in this world. He tried going to the Flea Bite, Sasha's restaurant, but that only depressed him further. He walked off into the street, towards the ninth pier, the only pier that barely saw any _public_ activity. He went to the pier and sat on the edge, watching the sunlight from the setting sun behind the Golden Gate Bridge refract off the water and bath the grassy hills beyond with orange-yellow gold. He sat like this for some time and looked at the pier, the sun had shone on a rusty blade by some lobster cages by a ship knot, holding a nearby cargo ship to the bay. He picked the blade up and remembered his life before all this, the fun, the laughter, the pure love he had for the both of them unlike any of that he had felt before. He took the took up the blade with both paws, and fell on the blade, stabbing himself in the heart.

He woke up in Heaven sometime later to an audience that was shocked. At first, he thought he had drank to much tequila but then he remembered how he had fallen on his blade. But he could not help it, he just could not take how his mind was constantly tormenting him with his own memories. This is what he told Annabelle and got himself stripped of rank, she said it was for his own good. He walked sorrowfully down the golden-bricked road and decided that he was in truth, possibly forever alone.


	7. The Race, The Unknown

**|Nome, Alaska 1924|Sanctitas: 17%|**

The sky brightened up with morning light anew, shining over the red crimson fur that belonged to a certain husky. The room lit up with natural sunlight but was amplified that much more by the crystalline snow that blanketed the Earth. Jenna opened her eyes and smiled, it was the beginning of a new day. Moreover, her life could be quite upside-down by the end of the day, depending on its impending outcome.

The town was rife with life this morning also, probably because Steele's team was getting ready for a race this morning. _'Okay, let's go get living, Jenna.'_ She told herself mentally repeatedly. Then as she was about to set out on her little mission Rosy ran out in extreme glee, "Jenna, Jenna! Mommy and Daddy got me a present at the general store!" Jenna knew that this immediately meant that she would have to call off her endeavor but she could not say she was not curious as to what Rosy got for her birthday. They all got ready for a prolonged day in the freezing Alaskan climate and soon were on their way to the town general store.

The town was very dense with people because the race had kicked off not one hour ago, that left about three and a half miles left for troops 709 and 816 to get across the line. (Troops were fancy words for sled-dog teams.) Rosy's father went inside first to ask Mr. Johannes if her present was ready he walked out again and nodded his head and Rosy ran through the threshold of the door at Mach speed. When she got inside, she burst even further with the excitement that only children could muster. A brand-spanking-new musher's sled was sitting there on the floor, fresh out of the talented hands of the Indian artisan. "I love this brush bow, I love these runners, and I love this sled!" She said bursting at the seems with said excitement.

"Well, then you'll need this." Her father said with that loving sparkle in his eyes gleaming as he said it. He handed her a musher's hat, "Oh, thank you daddy, thank you!" Rosy immediately turned to Jenna, "Jenna, Jenna, you're lead-dog, let's go!" Jenna smiled at Rosy and hoped she kept the same kind of spirit when she went from a child to a mature age. She was hitched to the line and Rosy called out, "Mush Jenna, Mush!" As she squealed with excitement.

"The sled is beautiful, Mr. Johannes, Rosy's thrilled." Her father said, paying the artisan his dues for the sled.

"Ah, so I gather." He said smiling at Rosy and Jenna. Rosy mushed Jenna down the street, towards the sidelines of the race. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were leaving the general store at this time as well, "Well, I still think we should've gone with the doll house, honey." Mr. Jones said.

"She'll learn to like it." His wife said smiling while her husband embraced her as they watched their daughter down the street.

Balto was watching the race with John and the one-mile marker had gone off but the race was not what John was interested in, he was spying out for Jenna. He did eventually find her down in front, right by the finish with her master, Rosy. He now knew why she had such an undying love for the child they grew on you. This he had learned from the moment John took the consideration of owning him without hesitation, because he saw, deep down, that he was just like him.

He observed as his crush and her human played by the finish but then a fierce wind swooped in and carried her new hat right in the wake of Steele's team, which had just rounded the corner. Rosy tried to go after it, but Jenna held her back, knowing it was far too dangerous for her to go get it. Without thinking, Balto jumped onto the track and ran for the hat, beginning to actually _overtake_ the sled team that had already a head start and fast, steady pace set. He got up to Steele's lead position. "Get out of our race, maggot!" Balto simply ignored the brash comments, lunged for the hat, and jumped out of the way, so the team could pass by. Balto saw John hop the fence but saw him slow down, noticing the hat. Moreover, Jenna, and kept his peace, knowing what Balto had been so unease about since they have been in town.

"Wow, Balto you got my hat! And all just to impress a lady-doggie." She finished slyly as Balto sheepishly grinned handing over her hat, embarrassed. Jenna blushed a little under her crimson fur, hard to spot out is it not? Jenna's father noticed this and rushed over, "Rosy, what are you doing?"

Rosy moaned as any child would, "Aw, but dad!"

"I'm sorry honey, but he's part wolf." He said.

After hearing this, Balto flattened his ears to his skull and trudged off, sad.

'Hey mister, just what are you trying to prove by spit-roasting my dog!" John said noticing what went on. He took a sip from his canteen. The water tasted coppery but he did not care right now, his dog, no, his _friend_ needed him.

"What?" Mr. Jones said, not noticing Balto's dog tag/collar improvising for an identification tag. He looked at the dog and back to John, "Terribly sorry about that…sir?" He said, lost in thought.

"Okay." John said forgivingly. The air turned very awkward after that.

After a while, Mr. Jones left with his daughter and John decided to retire in Balto's trawler for the night so naturally, Balto followed. It really was a shame though, how he wound up like this, scrounging for just a basic meal. But, that's what Balto did every day right? So if he could, then John definatly could with his Sea Cadet training. The sun was going down further now, judging from its posistion from the horizon it was about...five-ish, the days in Nome were really short.

"Okay, come on boy, the trawler is only a couple hundred feet away...I'll race ya!" And with that John burst off towards the derelict vessel. A challenging grin found its way across Balto's muzzle, _'Alright kid, you may be fast, but _I_ have four legs!'_ And bounded off after him.

It was then that familiar feeling creeped into Balto's thought process, the feeling of the snow being crushed under his feet, the pure desire to _run_. He bounded up next to he child but surprisingly the child kept pace with him, _'Man, this kid _is_ fast, wow!'_ Thirty seconds later, they ended their little rally with a tie, further tiring them for the night. Balto walked up the gang-plank and John did the same as Balto began to settle into his raggedy rug in the ships cabin, while John slept close by in the wheelhouse in his insulated parka.

"Good night, Balto." John said, yawning. Balto barked softly in reply and soon they both drifted quickly into a deep sleep.


	8. Memories

John was tossing and turning in the wheelhouse of Balto's trawler; which now belonged to both of them. Sure, it was cold…but if Balto could handle it, then John with his Naval Sea Cadet training could surely take it. John remained sleeping but amidst his tossing and turning, Balto looked on toward Nome, thinking of a certain husky he had met all those years ago, he remembered it like yesterday:

_START FLASHBACK_

The winter of 1922 was a very mild one at that, even for the territory of Alaska. Balto woke up and stretched his legs as he groggily walked from the wheelhouse to the deck. Outside was a goose, Boris, who was mopping the deck. Balto never really got why he did, seeing as it was beached. Balto walked into the light and very soon, the old snow goose noticed the hybrid.

"Ah, Balto! You have good sleep, no?" Boris said, putting the mop down and giving the young pup his full attention.

"Yeah, something like that." Balto replied in a young, squeaky voice.

Boris smiled and went back to mopping as Balto took a couple laps of water from his dog dish. Balto wandered aimlessly through the fishing trawler, but to no avail, he still longed to explore the close by town he never really got a chance to go into. He walked back up from the bowls of the ship by going into the steam engine room and climbing up the little macaroni vents on the top of the ship. It pumped all the smoke through these pipes and thus out into the open air, but the stacks could lead from the engine room to anywhere on the ship, if there was open air above it. He was careful not to step onto the lever that started the engine though; Boris said that was not safe. Although, he had gleaned much knowledge of the ship from the old goose, who had taken all the knowledge he consumed as he flew over an Old Russian schoolhouse when he was migrating and ended up in Nome. He climbed over and out of a vent and landed on the wooden deck, covered in soot. He walked over to the side of the wheelhouse and shook the soot from his fur. He walked over to Boris who was putting the mop away and sat politely until he did so, "Da-Boris?" Balto asked.

"Ya, kiddo?" Boris said.

"I'm bored; can I go into town and get some food?" Balto asked.

Boris frowned, he hated going into town but he did not want Balto to be malnourished, "Okay there Fido, just get the meat and come straight back, no fooling around!"

Balto yipped with happiness and leaped off the side of the boat, gracefully landing on a rock and sped off towards town. He ran across the short plain of frozen tundra and arrived at the entrance of town. He began walking down the main street. He was going by his keen nose, which Boris said he got from his mom before she…well, they really did not know. He passed by the first few buildings, they seemed so tall and downright alien to Balto. He saw some dogs give him weird looks and some he even greeted with things like, "Hello," and "Good Morning." However, they scoffed and some even shoved him away, hard.

He passed by a field where he saw a sled being pulled by big, strong dogs. He noticed a Malamute at the front of the team when they stopped. The human on the back of the runners who was driving the sled got off and un-hitched his dogs. Balto watched the sled dogs with a youthful fascination. He saw the lead dog catch his eye and walk over, he looked to be a year or so older than him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here boys…I think I smell a…_wolf_, and we all know what we do to wolves, right?" The lead dog said.

"Yeah, we beat the heck out of them with the meanest, harshest, ruthless faces that we can-" A blonde dog started to drone but what was interrupted by a small, scrawny, light gray dog, "We beat them up, Steele!" To this, the blonde one scowled and bonked him on the head, "Don't interrupt me Star!"

"Guys, Guys…get him." The leader spat. The bickering dogs and another, a Chow-Chow, jumped in front of the leader and started snarling and barking. Balto wasted no time in running back up the street; he could hear them burst into laughter and called him names. Balto stopped in an alley, realizing not only that he still had to get food, but also that every time he went into town things would go like this. However, Balto had one thing on his side, a good heart, intellect, and a will to learn to survive and gain some _street savoir-faire_.

He looked around and saw some precariously stacked crates and decided that he could get around the town quickly via rooftop. He jumped three crates high, to his dismay, fell down, and landed rather ungracefully in a snow bank. Balto dug his way out of the snow and sized up the crates, now realizing that they were placed in such a way that he would always lose his balance from this angle, at least.

He looked around the alley for any alternative route and set his eyes on a rain gutter, which was rare in a frontier town that usually got snow. It must have been built in the spring season. He grasped the gutter and shimmied his way up to the roof, after some trial and error he triumphed and was standing on the roof of a two-story town house. He surveyed the rooftops, looking around he noticed a pattern. He noticed that the buildings were laid out in a grid pattern, save the northwest side, which curved from the north to the northwest, putting a stop to the humdrum grid layout of Nome. Balto looked for the tallest building in Nome, which turned out to be the city hall, which was made exclusively of marble and stood three stories high, with roman architecture in mind, of course. He estimated that it was about six rooftops from where he currently stood now. From there, he could size up the town and look for the safest and if possible, discreet way to the town butchery.

He leaped from the rooftop he occupied onto the other one next to it, albeit barely, but he made it. He decided that he would have to build up his strength to accustom his body to such a…interesting way of travel. He knew he would dread it, but it was the safest way to get through the town unscathed, at least with this Steele character being so hostile. He got a running start and tried to leap to the next rooftop, but he lost his footing.

Balto slipped and started flipping through the air and landed on an ice patch with a thud. He looked around and saw several dogs and humans staring at him, "…Well, this is embarrassing." He then felt smoothness along his back. He looked down and noticed that it was he, not something else that was causing the sensation, he was slipping. He looked on and noticed that the patch of ice was actually a stream of frozen water that went down an incline, through out the town.

Balto looked up with a horrified expression and could only mutter a couple of words before he plunged down the frozen street, "Oh, _fuck me_!" In addition, he screamed as he slid down the inclined grade, gaining more speed as he went.

"Crap, crap, crap!" He screamed as he drifted onto Front Street, one of the busiest in Nome. He could see sleds and people everywhere. He was sliding at the speed of light now, with no control whatsoever. He flew past the Deli market, overshooting his intended target. He was sliding towards the housing section of the town, where the town's families lived. Balto had been struggling to get off the ice slick but he eventually gave up and let his body go limp, but he was damned if he said he wasn't screaming. On his way through the town, he flew past the town municipal center, where the young dogsled team he saw earlier was being unhitched and the sled was being laid up. He caught Steele's eye and started to wish he could go a little faster, because three mean dogs, all of them, were now surely pursuing him, stronger than he was no doubt.

His only hope was his insane speed.

(*.*)~(*.*)

On the other side of town, a young, beautiful red husky had awoken from her slumber. It was her first sleep since she moved to Nome with her family. She walked downstairs from her owner's, Rosie, bedroom. She slowly waltzed into the kitchen and over to her food bowl, which had supposed to be filled up with kibble, but it, was empty. She took a sip of water and freshened herself up for the day. After completing this, she walked back up the stairs, and to her owner's parent's bedroom to wake them up. She hopped onto the bed lightly and nudged the dad, Thomas, to consciousness.

"Huh-what the? Oh, hey Jenna girl…did I forget to fill your bowl before I got back from work again?" He said sitting up in his bed and putting on a robe. Jenna barked in reply, as if answering his question.

Thomas huffed out a quick chuckle, "Geez, alright, I think sometimes you dogs understand us perfectly…in which case that's not fair." He finished with a challenging grin. Jenna cracked a smile of her own, _'You don't know the half of it…'_ He went down the hall, checked on Rosie, then went downstairs to fill Jenna's bowl. He poured out the wafers of kibble into her bowl, which she cleaned up within five minutes. The kibble was not wet food, but at least she would be full until lunch. After her breakfast, Thomas sat down in a leather chair by the hearth, reading the _Nome Nugget_ newspaper. She pawed at the door, indicating that she wanted to go outside. There was a whole new town out there, and she wanted to check it out. Thomas happily obliged, and opened the door to let her outside.

_'I need to get around making that doggy door.'_ He thought as he went back to reading his newspaper, forgetting about the doggy door as he read about the town's welfare.

(*.*)~(*.*)

Balto stole a glance behind him and discovered to his horror, that Steele was right behind him. Balto did not look forward in time and flew onto a wheel, the wheel acting in turn like a ramp, looking at his speed at least. He landed right in front of a dog…right into another snow bank. "…Ow, gotta stop doing that." Balto said as he got up and looked into the eyes of the most beautiful dog he had ever seen in his life.

"I-uh, sorry about that." He said smiling sheepishly.

She giggled, "Are you alright?"

Balto looked at her, "Now I am." Just then, Steele burst around the corner, "GET THAT HALF-BREED!" He snarled. Balto looked wistfully into Jenna's eyes and before she could say anything, he ran off, Steele in hot-pursuit.

"That's right lobo, run! No one wants your filthy kind here!" Steele said as he chased him all the way to the city limits.

_END FLASHBACK_

Balto snapped out of his trance when he heard someone walking on the deck, he turned around, snarling remembering Steele and all the pain he caused him. Well, he turned around and it was John, who had a minor case of HUGE confusion now.

"Hey Balto, are you alright?" He asked, sitting down next to his half-breed friend. Balto sighed wistfully as he looked unto the town of Nome.

"Hmm, well I need to go into town, you wanna come?" John asked. Balto barked and hopped up, wagging his tail.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said grinning. They walked off the deck onto the gangplank that led to the snowy ground. John adjusted his cap, then waited a split second for Balto to jump off, and then they were off.


	9. Meeting Rosie

They were walking into town; the sun had started to peek over the horizon. John absentmindedly glanced at it while waiting for a sled to pass; he always thought a sunny day was a happy one. He looked at Balto, who was sitting next to him, waiting for the sled to pass as well. When it passed, they continued on to their destination, the town general store. The whole town was up it seemed. He must have been too caught up in the town because he walked straight into a girl his age that was walking with her husky, she looked up, saw John in his fatigues, and blushed.

John sheepishly smiled, "Ha-ha, uh, sorry…about that…yeah."

She giggled, "Not a problem, you new here? I saw you a week ago; you adopted the stray dog Balto, why?"

John had no idea how to explain this, "I…umm, I don't know how to explain…I didn't catch your name, by the way?"

The girl gave a warm smile, "Rosy Jones and this is Jenna," She said, gesturing to the husky who gave a short bark.

"I can see she's very light spirited," John laughed, "I'm John, John Riccardo." He said, giving a-well, lets be honest— the worst bow you will have ever seen in your life, because his service cap well off and he slipped trying to grab it. He looked up blushing, to which Rosy laughed aloud, "Are you alright there?"

John put his cap back on, the snow it had inside fell on his head, causing them both to laugh hysterically at the situation.

"You still didn't answer my question, why did you adopt Balto?" Rosy asked, stopping after they trailed off from laughing. Johns smile disappeared, "Listen, you're the first person I've had an actual conversation with…can I trust you?"

Rosy's smile disappeared and fell serious, "Till' the day I die."

John took a deep breath, "Actually, can we get out of the road? You know anywhere we can talk about this privately?"

She nodded, "Are you familiar with a certain abandoned saw-mill?" John gave a harsh laugh, "Ha! Do I ever!" She rolled her eyes and led him across town. Balto whined when they started walking away from the general store. John looked back at Balto, "Don't worry Balto, we'll get it later, come on." He said, catching back up to Rosy. They walked in an empty silence on the way to the mill, when suddenly Rosy broke the silence, "Do you like dogs?"

John smiled, "That I can tell you very easily. Yeah, when I was young, I had a golden retriever and we used to play ball all the time, then I had to leave him behind because the apartment we moved to in Michigan did not allow pets. That dog and me were the best of friends, to this day I still do not know what happened to him."

Rosy blinked, "Wow…that brings me to my next question, what are you wearing?" John became aware that he would probably seem crazy when he tells her his story. However, hey, she asked. After a short time, they arrived at the mill.

"That's a hard one. Can we go inside?" He asked.

"That's what we're here for." She said leaving Jenna behind as she went in. John looked at Balto, "Wait here, I'll be back in a half hour."

"You were coming?" Rosie called from inside the building. John arced his head back into the door, "Yeah, coming!" He replied. He went inside the building to get his secret off his chest, he knew it was not for sure safe, but if he held it in any longer, he might burst. Then a voice called to him, "I can give you five reasons on why you shouldn't do that." A voice called out from seemingly every direction, distressing John.

"WHO'S THERE?" He called out warily.

"I'm here, I'm there, and does it matter where I am?" The voice said. By this time, John was pissed off; he was being surprisingly calm, seeing the situation he was presented with. He held his paranoia in check. The voice came back, this time different.

"Hey you in there sailor? Respond, that's an order."

It was Robert's voice.

"Robert? Rob, what the hell is going on who the hell is the other person?" He said, calming down.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time. You will undergo trials that which have been undertaken, but failed repeatedly. The other person or dog's name is Charlie; he will be surveying your progress…from the ground. Do you see a collar on the ground?"

"Uh…hold on….y-yeah, I have it." John reported.

"Walk in the middle of the room and drop it on the ground." Robert's voice called out.

John did as he was told and dropped it in the middle of the room. He waited as the room fell silent, he started to relax. Then a blinding, indescribable light came down from the sky. John pulled something from his overcoat he wished he would never have to, he pulled out a silenced, flash reduced, dot sighted P99 semi-automatic pistol. He aimed at the light with the precision that could only come from years of drilling and training. Something came down in the light and John's training took over. He dived to the side and opened fire on the… thing. The bullets exploded on the light. John stopped dead when this happened, they were hollow-point, armor-piercing, depleted uranium bullets. They did not come cheap and they were not any paperweight, which was for damn sure. He pulled out his combat knife and charged the light and when he lunged and jumped, he was frozen in mid-air, he looked directly into the light and saw human history flash before his eyes, it stopped flicking images by and he looked into the light and saw his school, except there was a funeral…his funeral. The funeral was ceremonial and really did not have his body in it; he was in a coma at the hospital. They moved his body to a treatment center in Pasadena, California. As things turned out his story about his friend and him saving the ship, and Robert dying. He saw the honor guard prepare to fire their weapons and the image faded away as Rosy walked into the room, "Hey, is everything alright?"

_**[A/N: Hey guys, had to get something out, I know it is REALLY short, but I'll make up for it when I get some time of during April! Keep it clean!]**_


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